The aftermath of October 7, and assassination of senior commanders, has forced an existential rethink within Hamas
Israel’s strategy to eradicate Hamas by killing off its leadership has proven ineffective for decades; the current war demonstrates the myopic nature of this approach
The primary discourse on Iran’s politics obscures its nuanced reality through binary and inaccurate labels of “moderate” and “hardliner”; examining this framework reveals a deep Western insecurity about Iran’s and the Global South’s rising power
The international community races to reduce tension after a series of targeted killings carried out by Israel
Jon Alterman: Karim Haggag, welcome to Babel.
Karim Haggag: Thank you Jon, thank you for having me. It’s great to be with you.
Jon Alterman: Egypt has had a security focus on the Israeli border since the creation of Israel in 1948. Help us understand the context. How does the current Egyptian concern over Gaza rank among the various crises that Egypt has felt on its border with Israel over the last 75 years?
Karim Haggag: This is a fundamentally different challenge than the large-scale armed conflicts that Egypt fought with Israel over the years, » Read more about: Egypt’s Balancing Act »
Despite efforts of platforms like Meta to curb political content generally, frustration and sympathy for both sides of Israel’s War on Gaza continues to run deep among users
The events of October 7 and beyond raise a major ethical question: by what standard is the violence that Hamas uses against Israel different from the violence that the Israeli state uses against Hamas?
As Israel attempts to reestablish its identity as a regional deterrent by destroying Gaza, the effects of its campaign cascade through the region, shifting political alignments, and generating new concerns over radicalization and conflict spillover
Just days before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan proclaimed a “quieter” Middle East, and, with faintly concealed satisfaction, declared how little attention he – and thus the nation – needs to devote to the region’s myriad geopolitical headaches.
But now, Israel’s war on Gaza has dragged the United States back to the Middle East, and the Biden administration finds itself sucked into the vortex of multiple regional flashpoints revolving around Gaza. » Read more about: U.S. Position on Gaza Risks Wider War in the Middle East »
One of Israel’s main responses to the October 7 attacks was to declare that “Hamas is ISIL,” and that the world should thus unite in support for Israel to eliminate it. But others are not sure, and ask whether Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, and its practices as an occupying power, is even more worthy of global sanction
What is the next step in the Gaza War now that an Israeli drone has killed a Hamas leader in Beirut? A spillover in Lebanon? The entire region? Europe? The United States has a role to play in preventing the war from escalating, but what if it does not intervene? Today’s episode is with Abdalhadi Alijla, Palestinian political scientist and rebel governance expert, who tells us more about the worst-case scenarios of the war on Gaza, and how the war’s objectives are slightly shifting.
Arab states and the world community must counter Israel’s impunity as well as put an end to the profitable occupation enterprise… otherwise it’s another futile ceasefire.
With living conditions in the Palestinian enclave fast approaching breaking point, anything short of a comprehensive approach to peacebuilding and reconstruction will not work
